Our first evening in Fredericksburg was warm and muggy. Tired after a long day of travel in heavy traffic we wanted a low key place for dinner where we could just chill out. J Brian fit the bill. Housed in what was the Exchange Hotel it was built in 1837 and it was said to have some of the handsomest brickwork in Virginia. It was destroyed by fire in 1857 and rebuilding was delayed by the War. It finally reopened in 1867 and it housed a museum of the Civil War for man years. Among the many famous people who stayed at the Exchange was Charles Dickens. It was renamed the Maury Hotel in 1927 and in 1980 it was converted into a restaurant.

We had the choice of eating in the dining room or on the porch. We choose the porch. There are two tables with benches that occupy the ends of the porch and two that flank the stairs. We had the table and bench on the right hand side. We got quick service and ordered our beers. A Michelob Ultra for Al and a Blue and Gray for me. Blue and Gray is a local beer with a brewery right here in Fredericksburg. They offer tasting and tours which unfortunately I didn’t have time to do.

Like any good tap room they have a varied beer menu. You can try Yuengling lager, Sierra Nevada Pale ale, Guinness Stout, Bass, Harp, New Castle Brown Ale, Miller Light, Widmer Brothers Hefeweizen, Blue Moon Belgian, and Killians Irish Red, and much more.

The menu was pretty much what you would expect of a pub, lots of appetizers, steaks, salads etc. They had a variety of Quesadillas, chicken, tomato artichoke, con carne just to mention a few. They also have a good selection of dips artichoke and spinach, crab and three layer. They offer a mixed bag of burgers, veggie, buffalo and beef and pizzas with andouille, barbecue chicken, artichoke and with a choice of thick or thin crust.

If you want a full meal they have jambalaya, lamb chops, New York Strip or a crab cake platter just to name a few. Al and I opted for something in between, I ordered the chicken caesar salad and Al ordered the steak sandwich.

The chicken caesar was very good, the chicken was served warm with grated mozzarella cheese which was melted where it hit the chicken, there were also tomatoes in the salad which is unusual in a Caesar. Al’s steak sandwich was rated very good and they  served it with coleslaw instead of fries. It was good coleslaw but it was missing that horseradish bite that we prefer. It did come with a very good pickle however.

Our waitress never offered us dessert which gave us a good laugh. Must be looking like we didn’t need any we figured and actually since we found the ice-cream store down the street we were grateful to her for the oversight.